Musically, the female fronted
Within Temptation lie somewhere between Heavy Rock and Metal with a full symphony orchestra bringing out their classical influences. On this album they also bring in some "modern" touches in the form of electronic sounds.
One of the most anticipated albums of the year is finally here. After almost four years of waiting for a new album since the brilliant Mother Earth, I am sorry to say that it was so not worth the wait. With The Silent Force,
Within Temptation have taken a new direction and left the incredible arrangements and lush atmospheres behind, instead opting for a slicker, more direct and alltogether more commercial approach. Where Mother Earth was an adventurous and challenging listen The silent force is easily digested and doesn't hold any lasting appeal.
This is a real shame because through the album the band does shine more than a few times. Moreso on
Forsaken than on any other song and this at least gives me a little hope that they can come up with something better in the future. Sharon's clear voice is still incredible and she is among my favorite female singers. She can twist her voice in the most amazing and beautiful ways. Just listen to how her voice makes a song like
Memories fly. This song also showcases the best use of the orchestra on the album.
Unfortunately many songs follow the same structure and don't hold any big surprises. The arrangements are extremely compact giving the songs a simple feel and the choirs aren't used to the dramatic effect they could have been, in fact they are overused. This said, the album
is filled with catchy songs, Sharon's voice is completely mesmerizing and the musicians and production values leave nothing to be desired. Yes, I am somewhat divided. It is just that catchy songs do not necessarily equal good songs and after about 15 listens I find myself losing interest in the album. It does not hold the excitement or magic that so pervaded Mother Earth and overall it leaves me with an empty feeling.
I find
Forsaken,
Memories and
Angels clearly to be the best songs and they save the album somewhat. The opening moments are also not to be neglected. After a promising intro the first verse of
See who I am has a beat that makes it clear that things have changed. Still, an above average song and so is the follow up
Jillian.
Stand my ground is the first single and it has "Hit song" labelled all over it. It may be a good place to snart if you are a newcomer to this type of music but to me it feels overblown and represents the best example of my earlier "A catchy song does not make a good song" rant.
Pale is let down by a monotone beat,
Aquarius quickly becomes annoying with its stretched out and repeated chorus and I simply don't find the rest of the songs up to scratch. For the album as a whole I will say that the electronic elements don't enhance the music in a good way.
Only time will show if this becomes
Within Temptation's commercial breakthrough. For the band I hope they make it, but for myself, I feel sad for it feels like one of the world's unique bands have lost their creativity.
Written by
Steen Sunday, December 05, 2004
Show all reviews by SteenRatingsSteen: 5.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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Comments and member reviews
| Comment by Bjorn (Anonymous) - Thursday, December 16, 2004 |
I agree, album is friggin catchy and not worth all the waiting.. I had tooo high expectations!
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| Comment by dheim (Anonymous) - Sunday, February 06, 2005 |
no offence, just my opinion...
get back to your metallica shit.
you're all blind and deaf to art, and that's a fact.
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| Comment by blah (Anonymous) - Thursday, February 10, 2005 |
This Within Temptation's album is as much art as a bottle of milk or a candybar. It's existence is based on commercial demand, not artistic value.
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| Comment by Jaja (Anonymous) - Saturday, February 12, 2005 |
Its great album!
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| Comment by ej (Anonymous) - Wednesday, February 23, 2005 |
It is a great album
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| Comment by Adam Herman (Anonymous) - Saturday, March 26, 2005 |
True, it's commercial, but I think it's quite good. Definitely trying to capture the Evanescence sound, or top it. Which they do.
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| Comment by Meh (Anonymous) - Wednesday, March 22, 2006 |
And also catchy songs doesn't mean that they are bad. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't everyone saying that a band should come out each time with something different and new?. Well, they're doing it. They have no comparisson points when you litsen to ALL their albums: they are ompletely different one from another. That doesn't mean they're changing the music because the audience says so... that means they are polifacetic and very VERY talented. I think the person who did this review is clearly a typically underground metal fan who doesn't like to share his music with the rest of the world. Come on, be real and appreciate the music apart from all this nonsense. Music is made for selling, aswell as EVERY OTHER KIND OF ART!. What, you thought the band was only going to play for you and die for Inanition?.
And if it was true that Within Temptation with this album wanted to reach specially those who are not fammiliar with gothic metal bands, why are they still playing songs like The Other Half of Me and Candles in their concerts?.
There were a lot of prejudices when this person did the review of the album. The Silent Force, aswell as all of the pieces of art this band creates is a masterpiece, in every sense of the word. A 5.5 rating just shows us that this person clearly has a degenerated idea of what excellent music is. For me, it's a 10, and it's flawless in any way!.
And my native language is not english, thanks.
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| Comment by Meh again (Anonymous) - Wednesday, March 22, 2006 |
And stop comparing them with Evanescence. Who does that is obviously an ignorant in the genre.
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| Comment by Steen (Staff) - Wednesday, March 22, 2006 |
View Profile
Comments: 473 | | @meh:
To sum up my review:
I find this album just above average and a big step back from Mother Earth. That is just my opinion and it hasn't changed since I did the review. I still think it is somewhat uninspired and a major disappointment.
Quote: "I think the person who did this review is clearly a typically underground metal fan who doesn't like to share his music with the rest of the world."
Heh... that is in fact the reason I started this website...
Posted by Steen (Staff)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006 |
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| Comment by Gaz UK (Anonymous) - Wednesday, November 01, 2006 |
This album really took me by surprise....I'm hooked. The songs, melodies and Sharon's voice are enchanting, and it's my favourite album right now (the DVD is even better). Having listened to the back catalogue it's obvious WT have changed, but the world is a brighter place with The Silent Force, which has definitely opened doors for them & appealed to a wider audience. If more people hear about WT, enjoy Sharon's beautiful voice and get into their earlier music (like I have done - Mother Earth is a great album) then we should all rejoice.
As an avid reader of RevZ, I would give this album 9.5/10 Why only 9.5? Well it's because they put the awesome 'Say My Name' only on the Angels CD single & not on the album, tut).
My expectations are now high for the follow-up to Silent Force...and maybe a proper UK tour!
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